


The Tutor (Mortal AU)

by NaoSa (orphan_account)



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: EVE - Freeform, Ever become more?, F/M, It’s her, Mortal AU!, Not our everyday nerd, Seth class prankster and soccer player, Slow Burn, The one who doesn’t fall for his pranks, Tutoring, what happens next?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26740087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/NaoSa
Summary: Seth Sorenson, the class prankster and soccer player has been failing Algebra and is assigned a tutor. As he gets to know the tutor, they seem to be growing closer and become good friends… But will it ever become something more? And what happens when Seth's grades start to go up and her services are no longer required? A slow-burn Seth and Eve mortal AU!CONTINUED UNDER FANFICTION.NET
Relationships: Eve/Seth Sorenson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter l

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my current stories! ^_^
> 
> I wanted to write a Mortal AU for Seth/ Eve and look at me! This is going to be a full story now! Yippeeeeee!
> 
> Things to note: This is a middle school fic. This is mortal. Events in Fablehaven will be “mortalized” (If that’s a word)
> 
> Current update plan is every Sunday! Maybe I’ll miss a few every now and then, but we’ll have to see where this goes! I am pumped for this though!
> 
> PS. The better version of this story is on fanfiction.net. (Here is the link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13708027/1/The-Tutor) Same title, same Summary, same username. Yes, they are basically the same, but that one I like a bit better. Up to you though.
> 
> Be sure to comment and like this! I would love to see it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I even tried the genie from Aladdin, but I still do not own Fablehaven. Yet... 
> 
> Now on with the story! Sorry for the long note, rest will most likely be shorter!
> 
> Come yell at me on tumblr: naosa

Seth Sorenson was one of those people who would fit under many different Middle School stereotypes.

He was a sports player, even though he wasn't the biggest or bulkiest. He gets on the teams for his speed, it is almost as if he just teleports through the shadows he is so fast. His main sport is soccer because of that and he is always the one scoring goals.

He is also without a doubt, the class prankster. One of his most memorable pranks was letting all the mice out of their cages. You can still sometimes hear a squeak in the vents. Whether it would be the fact that the school was old and needed repairs, or that the mice were still there.

Seth preferred to think it was the mice still there, for he didn't want his prank to die down. What's the point of doing a prank if you aren't known for it? Especially if it is just rumors and whispers, everyone is too scared to ask him if it was him. Nothing gave Seth more satisfaction than that.

At some points, he would even anonymously snitch on himself just to hear his name over the loudspeaker and the whispers that would follow. He walked down to the principal's office with pride, something not many people felt. But then again, this is Seth Sorenson we're talking about.

He would always take the punishment without complaint, he didn't want to totally ruin his record. If he did, his sister would never live it down with her oh-so-perfect report card. As much as he loved his sister, she could definitely be a little bit of a know-it-all at times.

She was fun to prank though and Seth would always get her back for these times. One of his favorite pranks to do on her is the honey in the shampoo bottle trick. She always fell for it, and man, the expression on her face would never get old. Again, he always loved the faces people made after his pranks.

He thought back to his latest prank and allowed an interesting expression to appear on his face. For his last prank, he had done a classic. He had put a plastic spider on this random girl's book and was waiting for the reaction.

Oh, how he looked forward to hearing her scream in terror. It was always enjoyable to listen to a prank succeed and it always had.

Until he tried it on this one girl. He didn't know much about her, to be honest. All he knew was she had long, chocolate-colored hair and eyes. Not that the rest of her was half-bad either though. She was pretty, no doubt about it.

She was also supposed to be smart, and the nerds always had the best reactions to his pranks. Especially his sister, but that is a story for another time. He still cracked up when he thought about her face, but he also winced at the punch he received after.

He was waiting behind the bookshelf to hear her scream or at least catch a glimpse of a face of pure terror. Instead, she walked right up to the spider and laughed, a twinkling laugh. It surprised Seth, this spider was one of his most foolproof pranks and she had just treated it as if it was nothing?

For a minute, the girl locked eyes with Seth, as if knowing he was there. She then smiled knowingly and flicked the spider off her books before opening them up to read them as if nothing happened.

She left Seth in such an utter confusion about what had just happened, he couldn't even move. It's not like he could leave anyway.

His plan was relying on her running out of the room so he could escape. The library only had one door and if she saw him pass, there would be no hope or her not knowing it was him. He didn't want to be ashamed.

So he waited there for hours, waiting for her to leave the room. But again, almost as if she had known what he was doing, she didn't leave the room.

Seth stood there, his legs starting to shake out of tiredness, but yet the stubborn girl continued to study. He had to have a bit of respect for her, it was almost as if she was the one tricking him now.

Maybe he could convince this girl to team up with him, he pondered but quickly shook the thought. He worked alone and wouldn't let anyone, especially a girl who was tricking him like this, join him.

Eventually, he felt his eyes grow heavy, though he did his best to shake them. He gently descended into the floor and fell into a dreamless sleep. Hours later when he woke up, it was almost 11 pm, long past his school curfew. Man, his grandparents were going to kill him.

He quickly got up, rushing to the door, not caring if the girl was still there or not. He quickly looked to her chair and sure enough, the girl and her pile of books were gone. And In its place was a hot pink sticky-note. Seth forgot all about his curfew for a minute and picked up the note curiously.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Try to prank me,

I'll always beat you.

Seth started at the note dumbfounded, especially after noticing the playful heart at the end of the note. He quickly remembered the fact that he had to leave and quickly dashed out of the room, but not before slipping the hot-pink note into his pocket.

It had been three days since the library incident. His grandparents were furious he had stayed out, but he couldn't say the true explanation without getting into even more trouble.

So he ended up taking the punishment without much complaint as to avoid suspicions. He had claimed he simply lost track of time, but they gave him no mercy. Not that he expected any.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by the teacher bringing him back into reality.

"Seth, could you answer this question for me?" Mr. Jacobs asked. Seth's head snapped back as if he were a puppet, resulting in a small chuckle from the rest of the room. Seth took this moment to look at the smart board and to hopefully, find out what they were doing right now.

He definitely wasn't the best at math, but he was pretty sure he wasn't terrible either. He did have a C, but that is average right? He would get this answer right and then he would have a solid B! Yes, everything is coming into place. Now he just has to answer this problem.

He scanned the smartboard quickly, hoping for a clue. He noticed right away that it had a graph with a shape on it, with one point label 'T' and the sign for rotation. He smiled happily because he knew right away what they were doing.

"The answer is you would rotate it." He said proudly. Everyone in the room chuckled, which started to confuse Seth. Hadn't he gotten it right? There was a rotation sign, after all, so isn't that the answer? He checked the board but could find no other answer.

Mr. Jacobs smiled thinly, "Yes, but what would the new coordinates be?"

To say Seth had no clue would be an understatement, and to say his face had a flustered blush would also be. He looked again at the board but honestly didn't understand a thing. "I don't know," he admitted.

Mr. Jacobs looked as if he was fighting a frown, but it was replaced by a somewhat fake smile. He turned away from Seth so coldly, Seth could practically feel the shivers going down his spine. "What about you Angelina?" He asked, turning to a short girl with long black hair.

"Point J's new coordinates would be 8, 12 after rotation." The girl, Angelina, said without any hesitation, "The other points including K, L, M in order would 8,10, 9,4 and 9,9."

Mr. Jacobs nodded before turning back to face his board. "Rotations are one of the simplest things once you get to know them," he explained.

Seth couldn't help but feel that was a little pointed at him, "Tomorrow, we'll start to cover rotations and translations as well. We have a test on Friday, so be sure to study for that as well. Class dismissed."

Seth quickly shoved all his papers back into his binder and started 'speed-walking' towards the door as fast as he could go. "Seth, can I speak to you for a moment?" Mr. Jacob asked from behind him. Seth let his head fall on the door for a minute, he was so close.

He quickly faked a smile and turned around, "Of course Mr. Jacobs." He said, "I only have a minute though, I don't want to be late for Spanish." Seth immediately flinched after saying that. Now Mr. Jacobs would be suspicious unless he was too much of a teacher to notice. Seth desperately hoped for that option.

"That was never a concern before, but alright." Mr. Jacobs said. Man, this guy was good. "I'll write you a note excusing your tardiness, would you take a seat?"

Seth hesitantly sat down at the chair next to Mr. Jacob's desk, allowing his binder to set down gently against the ground. He fiddled with his thumb anxiously, he did not like getting singled out like this. Unless of course, it was for a prank. This was different though.

"Sorry I didn't get the answer," Seth said lamely, "I couldn't think straight. Didn't get enough sleep last night, I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow."

He paused as Mr. Jacobs wordlessly handed him a paper packet, it was the unit test from last week. Seth gently opened it and right on the cover in blood-red ink, was a big fat F. The rest of the paper wasn't in much better shape either, little red marks like red ants dancing along with the paper.

"This was your unit test from last week," Mr. Jacobs confirmed, squashing any hope Seth had left, no matter how unlikely it was.

"I didn't sleep much that day," Seth said defensively. As if Mr. Jacobs had expected that, which he probably had, he handed Seth another few packets and papers.

"It seems you haven't been getting much sleep for months," Mr. Jacobs said smoothly, "Look, Seth. I've done my best to be patient with you, but it is honestly starting to get a little bit hard. On your online report card, I've always boosted up your grade to not worry about your parents, but you are in deep danger of failing this class."

Seth tried for a joke, "I didn't know you cared." He thought up lamely.

Mr. Jacobs started at him, "My boy, I think it is time we try a new approach for you. Clearly, I can't boost your grade forever, especially if you didn't earn it."

"Look, I'll study super hard tonight!" Seth vowed, "I'll study hard for the next test. Get a solid A, if that is what it takes to please you."

"Have you considered getting a tutor?" Mr. Jacobs asked. Seth wouldn't admit this out loud, but the idea of spending more time with this guy was honestly, a little terrifying. Seth could have sworn this guy could read minds when he continued.

"Not with me." He said, "With a fellow student. Someone who you can befriend and maybe be a little more comfortable with. I'm sure I can find someone willing. I actually happen to know a very nice young girl who would be all but willing to help you. She's taken on some serious cases before."

Ouch, Seth thought. Apparently, he was a serious case now. He was not keen on the idea of hanging out with some know-it-all telling him his mistakes though. From the sound of it, this girl was going to be worse than Kendra, and that is saying something.

"That's alright," Seth said, "I think I'd rather just study for a bit. I wouldn't have much time for meeting with anyone with my busy soccer schedule."

"Seth, if you are failing this class, you won't be able to do activities anymore." Mr. Jacobs said seriously. The words hit Seth like a blow to the gut. He had heard rumors about things like this, but he had always refused to believe them. Of course, now it came back to hit him like a hard hit in the head.

"Give me two weeks to turn my grades around," Seth begged, "By myself."

Mr. Jacob sighed. "You have two weeks to turn your grade into a real C, not the sugarcoat you have been giving you. If you fail, I am going to be assigning you a tutor. Do you understand?"

Seth nodded enthusiastically, "Thank you so much! I promise you won't regret this! I'll study extra hard this week, I swear it!"

Mr. Jacob waved his hand, "If you hurry, you'll make it in time for Spanish." He said. Seth practically dashed out of the room, despite the no running rule called after him. He ran down the halls, confiding to ignore the muffled teachers' protests to slow down.

He quickly ducked into the Spanish Room and collapsed into his seat. The teacher hardly even looked up and this is why Seth liked this class.

The teacher was a frail old lady named Ms. Honey, who honestly didn't care much about teaching. If Seth had to guess, she was just counting down the days until retirement. Every day, she would just write an assignment across the whiteboard and sit in her desk reading romance novels.

Seth didn't even do the assignments and he still got an A. She also didn't care if you were twenty minutes late or missed the whole period entirely. So yes, Seth never rushed to get to Spanish before, but he wasn't going to tell Mr. Jacob that. That was always his excuse and he intended to use that.

Also, Spanish class was one of the best times for pranks and he happened to have one up his sleeve. He noticed right away that no one else had arrived yet, Even the goody-two-shoes sometimes skipped and took advantage of this class. Though everyone would come by the end of class. Perfect.

He quickly looked at the teacher. Though she didn't care about a lot of things, he still took care of executing his pranks. Couldn't be too careful and he knew exactly when to do his pranks. And sure enough, she was so absorbed in her romance novel, you could see her eyes dashing between the words. Double perfect.

Not even bothering to be quiet, he walked straight up to the board and picked up a dry erase marker. He quickly read the board, even though he had no idea what it meant. Lee las página de tu libro de texto (Read pages 3 through 7 in your textbook), it said but Seth didn't care.

He quickly erased the message and wrote his own. Only this time, it was a fun little message, made by an amazing writer. Himself. And just for a little extra flair, he used google translate and turned into Spanish. He stepped back and admired his handiwork for a minute.

Esta clase es inútil (This class is useless)

Este bromista no es (This prankster is not)

¡Que tengas un maravilloso día! (Have an amazing day!)

He smirked to himself before quickly rejoining his seat. He pulled out his phone and put his feet up on the desk, humming to himself as he played Mario-kart.

Sure enough, towards the end of the class, people started to come. Each one noticed the message right away and chuckled quietly. So far, no tattletales had made it into the classroom so the message wouldn't be erased just yet. This was fine by Seth, the more people who saw it, the better.

One person even gave him a thumbs-up, knowing it was him. Johnny, Seth was pretty sure his name was. He had instantly taken a liking to this guy after his first prank in this class and how they guy applauded and spread a few rumors about it.

Though they never officially became friends, they were not enemies either. Seth could count on him to give himself some attention.

Sadly, someone must always ruin the fun. Though he doesn't dislike this part either, this is when his work gets officially noticed. But sometimes, punishments or demerits came with it. He was still in trouble because of the whole library fiasco!

Right away when Lily came in, she snitched to the teacher. How she translated that so fast, Seth had no idea. Other students had taken at least a few minutes to translate the message. But then again, none of them really learned Spanish like Lily.

"Mrs. Honey!" She said, "Someone defaced your message!"

Mrs. Honey shot up like someone had blown a horn. She quickly readjusted her glasses and turned to face Lily, "What was that, hon?" She asked.

"Someone erased your message!" She continued, "Wrote a different one instead! Now I don't know what I am supposed to do today!"

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Honey got up, trembling. "I better go fix that now. Have a seat, hon."

Lily gave a sharp, satisfied nod before plumping herself down in the front row seat. Seth watched as Mrs. Honey walked up to the board and looked at the message. She shook her head and turned to face the class.

"Please don't draw on the board class. And whoever this prankster is, please be considerate to others. And work on your Spanish as well, this is clearly google translate."

Everyone in the room nodded like puppets as she replaced the message and returned to her seat. The rest of the class went smoothly after that, besides the fact that there were only a few minutes left in the entire period. Seth let out a sigh of relief as the bell rang, signaling the end of the morning and the start of lunch.


	2. Chapter ll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I already failed the schedule. Enjoy! :)

Seth dashed to the cafeteria. Though honestly, he dashed to just about everywhere. One of the advantages of being fast and he wasn't about to let that talent go to waste. Besides, it was taco day in the cafeteria and he intended to get there before all that was left was the stale bagel alternative. He shuddered just thinking about it. He had learned his lesson about that.

He skidded to a stop and burst into the cafeteria. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized he was one of the first people there. He slowed down and went back to his normal pace. If he ran in here, he wouldn't get food and there wasn't a way even Seth Sorenson could beat the lunch ladies.

Last time he tried to run in the cafeteria, he got bagels along with detention for a week. He tried to explain himself but their gaze was still and cold, no emotion in their faces. He still felt shivers go down his spine when he thought of their cold, hard faces.

He went down to the end of the line and picked up a tray. This process was almost natural to him now, for he got hot lunch so often. Oftentimes it was because he either forgot the lunch he had packed or because he liked the meal that day. Or both, in some cases.

The lunch he left behind would never go to waste though and that he knew for sure. If he never got to his lunch, he could always count on his second cousin to finish it for him. That is Warren Burgess for you, he had later figured out.

He was very different from the man he had seen in a coma. Though Seth did suppose after being in a coma for years you would be pretty hungry. Not that he had ever been in a coma before, but it also wasn't very hard to imagine.

His cousin had just come out of his coma a few weeks ago, right after the time, his sister busted the corporation that had been trying to make his grandparents sell his house using forged documents. It sounded like it wasn't a big deal, but when in reality, it was.

His grandfather owned a lot of lands of which he had spent his entire life dedicated to restoring. He brought in all its natural residents and grew its natural places. It became one of the best wild places in the country to have wildlife. People would always beg to come to visit, but he always insisted that he'd rather leave the animals alone. He made an exception for his family of course.

Most people viewed him as one of those people who live with their entire family, which is pretty close to the point if Seth was being honest. Lots of people came and went from his grandfather's organization. They called themselves the Knights of Dawn and we're focusing on restoring the world's old beauty.

Companies were always getting frustrated at this, for they wanted the land to themselves. His grandfather has managed to keep the land itself though for more than 50 years on his own. Sometimes, he liked to call his land Fablehaven, because it was a work of magic to have nature in this world.

Seth gagged when he heard that, but secretly kind of enjoyed it. Not that he would ever admit that of course, he didn't want to become like his sister who gushed about every weed she found. Like seriously. Every. Single. Weed. Seth wouldn't be surprised if she knew everything about the weed as well.

He grabbed a bag of chips and a small package of grapes before heading down to the main course selection. He had learned the main course was the most important thing to get first and there would always be extras of the snacks he could come back for later on.

Today was burger day and it was one of Seth's favorites. I mean, come on. Who doesn't like burgers? Especially when they had ketchup as an option, Seth practically swooned at the thought. Within reason of course. Even Kendra would be rude if it meant she got ketchup and that was saying something.

"Veggie or meat?" The lunch lady said gruffly.

"Meat," Seth said.

The lunch lady grumbled, beckoning Seth to continue. "Please," he added. The lunch lady nodded sharply before plopping a burger from her gloved hands. Seth nodded gratefully and headed over to the snack bar. He picked up his usual, one ice cream cone and a giant rice Krispie bar, before heading to his seat.

"Hey dudes," Seth greeted as he took a seat.

"Hey bro," Newel said, not looking up from his food as he all-but shoveled it into his mouth. Seth still found it funny how much Newel ate, though his twin brother ate more.

"What's up?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Not much Doren, how about you?"

Doren shrugged, "Just trying to get through the day. Are we still on for our video game tournament tonight? My mom bought snacks. Seth was about to protest, but the idea of studying slipped his mind before he could open his mouth.

"Sounds great," Seth said.

"Did you guys here about what happened in Spanish tonight?" Newel asked. Seth shook his head, prompting Newel to start the story. About twenty minutes later, they had a visitor.

"Hey, friends!" Verl walked up to their table, bouncing up and down.

"Hey Verl," Seth greeted with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"How's your sister doing, Seth?" Verl beamed. Seth mentally groaned. He was starting to get sick of Verl's crush on his sister. He'll admit it was hilarious at first with Kendra rejecting him, but even these things were starting to get old, and he was the class prankster! Besides, Verl didn't take a hint.

"She's fine," Seth said, "She's started dating this high school named Bracken. She seems to like him a lot."

Verl physically deflated, making Seth almost want to chuckle if he wasn't so done with this guy. Seth realized it was probably about time to get rid of him. "Hey Verl," he said, "That pretty girl over there is looking at you." He gestured to a random table.

"The redhead?" Verl whispered excitedly.

"Yep," Seth said, "It looks like she wants to talk to you, she's whispering to her friend. I can practically read your name across her lips. Looks like she has it bad for you."

Verl smoothed out his hair, "Then I best go make the lady's dreams come true." He puffed his shoulders up as he walked towards the table. Did Seth feel bad about what he just did? The answer is no.

* * *

"I'll see you later?" Doren confirmed.

"Wouldn't miss it," Seth crossed his hand over his nose to prove it. It was a bit of a joke between him and his friends. Why cross your heart when you can cross your nose? Call it strange, but now they consider it one of their most sacred bonds, believe it or not.

"Cool," Newel said, "You got Science next, right?"

Seth put a hand to his chest in mock offense, "I thought we have been friends this whole year and yet you still don't know my schedule?"

Doren rolled his eyes, "Stop being such an actor," He accented the actor, "You're starting to sound worse than Verl and his obsession with his sister."

"Now that's just cruel." Seth said, "And you have a crush on my cousin's girlfriend, who is over twenty years old and not into you at all."

"At least we have good taste," Doren said defensively.

Newel whistled appreciatively, "Now that's a woman," he remarked, making Seth honestly want to vomit. "I still don't get why she hangs out with that guy named Warren. She could do so much better."

Seth snorted, "I do hope you aren't thinking of yourself."

"And what if we are?" Doren asked, "Come on, don't act like you don't have a crush on someone as well and think that it could happen. Speaking of which,"

"Who do you like Seth?" Newel finished. Seth's thoughts drifted back to the girl at the library, causing him to choke on the apple he had just been finishing up. He didn't even know that girl, he was probably just thinking about how annoying she is. Yeah, that's it. Newel only smirked more at this, "You have it baaaaaaad," he taunted.

Seth's ears turned red, "I don't have a crush," he said defensively.

"Then why are you blushing?" Doren added.

Seth sputtered, "I don't even know her name!" He immediately wanted to sink into his seat, much to Newel and Doren's amusement, only adding to the fire of which he sparked.

"But you admit there is a girl?" Newel practically purred, causing no part of Seth's face to not be red. He bet he looked like an absolute tomato's right now. He, the amazing Seth Sorenson, was blushing because of a girl he didn't even know the name of. Oh, how the world hated him.

"Shoot, I'm going to be late!" Seth looked at his watch for extra measure.

"How about we skip today?" Newel suggested.

"Nah, I have a test today." Seth lied, "I really should get going."

"All the more reason to skip today," Doren countered.

"Yes. What? Whatever, I got to go." Seth dashed out of the cafeteria before he could get any more embarrassed. He was right about some of it though, he did have to get going before he embarrassed himself any further.

He did have a reputation after all and he was not about to let it get spoiled because of some girl.

Of course, after he got to class, Seth was starting to wish he had chosen the embarrassment instead. It turns out, he did have a test today and the odds were not in his favor. There were no odds at all because this was an essay response and diagram. Not multiple choice questions, screwing up even his 25% chance of getting an answer right. He was so screwed.

Draw a diagram of any of the things we have studied over the week and then write a response about how it works, why you chose it, noticings wondering, and anything else you might want to add. The response must be at least a thousand words and have proper grammar. You have 60 minutes to complete this test, which should be more than enough time considering you did this exact assignment a few days ago. Good luck!

Seth all but mentality groaned as his head fell against the paper. So hadn't done the assignments he would have. He also had no idea what the options were due to all of his skipping. So he was going to need that luck, but of course, there wasn't even a freaking multiple choice question.

So he winged it and he did not soar. Neither would his grades. So just another normal day.

* * *

"I'm home!" Seth yelled into the house.

"Oh no!" His sister teased, "We better call the police, Seth is home! Or shall we schedule a whole parade to celebrate the arrival of Seth Sorenson?"

Seth rolled his eyes at his sister's teasing, "I'll take the parade, but only if we have some cupcakes there as well. Maybe have them throw candy at the little kids and all of that jazz. Now that I think about it, it sounds very appropriate."

"Nice try," Kendra said, "But also not. You already had your daily sugar intake."

"How did you know that?" Seth asked, "I mean, what are you talking about?"

"There's frosting in your face." Kendra said, "I could do a full scan and figure out all the details if you want, but this sounds a lot easier."

Seth's ears turned red as he wiped the frosting off his face, "Whatever." Was his brilliant comeback.

"Uh-huh," Kendra said, "Tell mom I'm going out for a bit. I'll be at the ice-rink with Bracken, he promised to take me skating this week."

"Yeah, yeah." Seth said, "I know the drill. Don't do anything dumb!" Ah, revenge is sweet.

Kendra blushed as she dashed out the door. It was super easy to make his sister flustered, but you couldn't let her get the upper-hand first. Though talking about her romances was one of the best ways to get her talking. She was still not over her ex, who had just been in it in an attempt to claim the land by looking for insecurities. Seriously, that girl had serious denial issues.

Of course, a few weeks later she meets a rich boy who likes her, and all of a sudden, they're dating. Ugh, it's starting to get annoying thinking about his sister's love life. It's time to play some Mario-kart.


	3. Chapter lll

“Seth, can you come here?” Mr. Jacobs asked. Gosh, Seth felt like he was having a serious case of deja-vu right now. He wasn’t exactly happy about it though.

“Sure.” He walked up to his desk.

“Look Seth, I gave you a few weeks to turn your grade around.” Mr. Jacobs started. “Don’t even try to interrupt me. I gave you the time, but you gave me nothing in response. I have assigned you a tutor and I am taking no other answer then I will be there. Do you understand?”

“Mr. Jacobs, one more chance!” Seth knew it was hopeless, but it was still worth a shot.

“Seth, I already gave you a chance.” Mr. Jacob said sternly, “I do hate to do this to you, but I picked out a special tutor just for you, they’re nice and I think you two could work together very well. And even if you don’t like her, please be nice to her. It’s not her fault she had to tutor you.”

“Fine,” Seth said, desperately hoping this girl was someone good. If it turned out to be his sister, god forgive some of the words that may come out of his mouth.

“Come on Eve!” Mr. Jacob called, “It’s time for you to meet your person.”

Seth fiddled with his fingers as he waited, but to say his jaw hit the ground when he saw the girl would be an understatement. Seth had never felt like this before in his life, but here he was now.

Because his new tutor was the girl from the library.

*.*.*

For a minute, Seth just stared at her, unsure of what to say. To his interest, she only smirked at his reaction as if he was just a cute little kid. Which he totally, absolutely, was not no matter how other people may argue otherwise.

“Seth, this is Eve.” Mr. Jacob introduced.

“Hi.” Seth said in a tone of voice he hadn’t used much hinting in his tone, “I’m Seth.”

“I know.” Eve said, “But thanks.” Gosh, Seth felt like such an idiot right now. So this was his first impression of her, Yep, everything seems to be going just perfect now doesn’t it?

“Do you want me to lead this conversation or do you two want to figure this out yourselves?” Mr. Jacob asked, clearly amused by the exchange between the two of them. “Up to you.”

“I don’t care.” Eve shrugged, “It’s up to you Seth.”

“We’ll be fine alone.” Seth said, “You can go back to chewing out other kids.” So he hadn’t lost his spunk, much to Seth’s relief. Good to know that he isn't failing again everything right now. Yeah, he wouldn’t even try to deny it right now.

Mr. Jacob’s jaw tightened, but he nodded curtly and left the room. Instantly, Seth was regretting his decision.

Eve was just staring at him, one eyebrow raised as she crossed her hands, her foot tapping against the floor impatiently. Seth couldn’t help but stare at her confidence, she clearly wanted him to make the first move. He felt like he was talking to a bomb, just waiting to go off.

She was wearing a navy blue t-shirt and a gray fleece over it. Her pants were just a simple black and she wore a small gold headband that was pulling back her hair, making her hair rest just behind her shoulders.

Eve sighed, “Can we just get to the point?” She asked impatiently, “I have to be home in a few minutes or my father is going to kill me.”

“Sure.” Seth said awkwardly, “What are we supposed to be talking about.”

Eve looked at him as if he was stupid, clearly thinking over what to do with him before whipping out her phone, “What’s your number?” She asked.

“Um,” Seth said, “Look we just met, I don’t think you’re exactly my type either.”

“To arrange future sessions.” She smirked, making Seth blush a violent red. “Don’t flatter yourself, mister prankster.”

“Oh,” Seth said as he grabbed his napkin and a pen and scribbled a few numbers on it before handing it over to her. “Here.”

She inspected the napkin. “Huh,” she said, “I expected more from the self-proclaimed class prankster. Nothing fancy on here now is there? That’s too bad. That attempt at a prank a few weeks ago was the most fun I’ve had in a while now.”

“What happened?” Seth asked.

“None of your business.” She said spunky, “Look, I’ll tell you what. I can get out of my curfew tonight, we’ll start our sessions right now.” 

“But I have another video game night!” Seth whined. He and his friends have been having video game days almost every night for weeks now, he couldn’t just abandon them!

“What game?” She asked.

“Mario-kart.” He said.

She snorted, “Boring.” She said, “If you were missing this session for a better game, I would have made an exception. Where’s all the violence?”

That was the last thing Seth expected to come out of her mouth. He opened his mouth to say something in defense and then closed it, defeated.

“Pick me up at my locker.” She said, “Don’t be late.” She walked out the door leaving Seth no time to respond.

Great, he thought. I don’t even know where her locker is.

*.*.*

Normally when school seemed as if it was going too slow, this time it went too fast. Great, now he8s starting to think like a nerd. He just hoped he would keep some of his old life after he went to the place known as tutoring. Great, now he’s also a poet.

Well, first he had to find that girl’s locker. This was easier said than done.

He walked up to a girl he had seen Eve talking to before, Ana, her name was. “Excuse me,” he asked, “Do you know where Eve’s locker is?”

“Eve fair?” Ana asked. So that was Eve’s last name, Seth realized. Fitting.

Seth nodded enthusiastically, “Do you know where her locker is?”

“Are you her new boyfriend?” Ana asked as the other girls oohed playfully.

“No.,” Seth said defensively, “She’s my tutor.”

Ana laughed, “Sure thing lover-boy,” she said, “Her locker is number 283, down the hall to your left. It’s one of the pink lockers as well, shouldn’t be hard to find. I’m sure she’ll be waiting for you.” Seth dashed before she finished the last part, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t hear it.

He quickly ran down the halls looking for the locker Ana had spoken of. Eventually, he came across the exact locker where Eve was grabbing her backpack from her locker and replacing her book. She looked across to him and nodded crisply before contouring to gather her stuff.

“Let’s go.” She said, pulling her backpack onto her back, walking today the hallway with Seth at her side.

“Where are we going?” Seth asked curiously.

“The library.” She said simply, “I’m sure you know where it is.”

“Yeah.” Seth said, “I study there all the time.” Maybe there was a chance she forgot within minutes...

“You don’t prank people there?” She asked. And with that, all hope vanished.

“Maybe.” He said.

“For the record, the best spiders can be found on Amazon.” She said, “The cheap dollar tree ones you use are not very good. I would also attack a mini microphone or speaker to play some noises for special effects. Or cover it with honey so when they’re running and smash it, their book will get all sticky and might think its blood. Or even use official fake blood, they both work but honey is the cheaper option.”

“I never thought about that.” Seth admitted, “It always worked before.”

“Not on this girl.” She smirked, “Come on, we’re here.”

Seth hater to admit it, but as many times as he had been in the library, he had never really looked at it. Not that it was anything extraordinary now, but it did have a certain pull to it. One that said stay away. I mean, this is Seth Sorenson we’re talking about, if you want some beautiful poems about the library, you’ll want to find the story about his sister. This is the story about the class prankster…. and his tutor.

“Come on.” She said, “I know where we should go.”

Seth expected her to be taking him to some table near the librarian, so followed her unenthusiastically. But when she took a sharp turn behind a bookshelf, he knew he was wrong. He curiously followed her as she led him back towards a wall, a dead-end, he thought.

But he watched as the girl put a finger to her lips, the universal sign to keep quiet lifting up a beanbag to reveal a small door, going straight into the ground. Seth stood there, clearly surprised this girl had some kind of secret, but he kept his mouth shut. No way he was going to ruin this fun.

He watched as she gently pulled open the hatch revealing a small ladder down into a pitch-black hole as she gestured for him to go in. He immediately complied without a second thought.

He went down the ladder step by step for a bit until he felt his feet hit the smooth ground in a pitch-black room. For a minute, he just stood there, unaware of what to do, but Eve came down behind him, pulling out her phone and shining a light into the room.

She noticed right away it was about the size of a closet, consisting of a few chairs and a small table, nothing fancy, but the room was very old in his opinion. Despite there being no cobwebs or anything like that.

“We can talk now.” She said, “They can’t hear us from up there. It’s pretty sound-proof as long as we don’t go screaming or talk extremely loud.”

“How did you find this?” Seth asked curiously.

She shrugged, “I’m good at finding things.” She said, “I’m guessing it’s a bunker of some sort, this school is pretty old.”

Seth snorted, “No doubt about that. You keep this a secret?”

“Duh,” she said, “I’m only showing you because u have to tutor you and I like being down here, it feels safer, in a way. You have to promise not to tell anyone about it though.”

“I promise,” Seth vowed.

“Great.” Eve said, “But we do have to do some math you know.”

“Great.” Seth echoed, “Sounds like a lot of fun. You sure we can’t just explore a little bit?”

“I already checked,” she said simply, “But we really should get to work, I’ve seen your test scores and they aren’t very pretty.” Seth stuck out his tongue at her playfully as she rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t do that to the person who decided if you live or die.” She teased playfully.

“Algebra is not a matter of life and death.” Seth huffed.

“I would be fooled by the way you interact with the teacher,” she retorted as she pulled up one of the chairs to the table. “Come on, I don’t want to be late. I have to be home in an hour or my father will kill me.”

“Fine.” Seth said as he pulled up his chair, “Let’s go.”

They worked for the entire hour, Eve with a surprising amount of patient with Seth which he was grateful for. Should it have been his sister tutoring him, she would be chewing him out and giving him lectures that only teachers should know.

By the end of the day, Seth knew exactly how the sessions went.

Practically pointless. 

Eve sighed, “Tell you what, I’ll come to your house tomorrow afternoon for a full session and all of that. Does that sound alright? This is going to take a while. I can talk to Mr. Jacob and get you excused from the normal assignments so we can do this.”

“Are you sure you can’t just take them all away?” Seth asked playfully.

She rolled her eyes and winked, “Only for myself. Nice try though, being a math genius does have it’s perks.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Seth said.

“Of course not.” Eve said, “But you can try.”

Seth would never admit how much he liked the sound of that.


End file.
